The U.S. foster care system is overwhelmed, in part because America's opioid crisis is overwhelming. Thousands of children have had to be taken out of the care of parents or a parent who is addicted.

Indiana is among the states that have seen the largest one-year increase in the number of children who need foster care. Judge Marilyn Moores, who heads the juvenile court in Marion County, which includes Indianapolis, says the health crisis is straining resources in Indiana.

The head of a Kentucky child advocacy organization sees lots to like in a just released report on ways to improve foster care and adoption. The panel from the House of Representatives offered its suggestions Tuesday.

A new government report says the number of children in the U.S. foster care system has increased for the fourth year in a row, due largely to an uptick in substance abuse by parents.

The report, issued annually by the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services, shows that 437,500 children were in foster care by the end of fiscal year 2016. A year earlier the number was 427,400.

More than a month after a court decision said Kentucky had to begin paying people who take care of foster children they’re related to, state officials say they still don’t know when or how it will begin making the payments.